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BYU guard Richie Saunders (15) walks off the court after a 71-67 loss to Duquesne in a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Omaha, Neb.

Charlie Neibergall. AP Photo

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BYU's Jaxson Robinson looks at the scoreboard after a first round NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Jaxson Robinson (2) takes a 3-pointer against Duquesne during a first round NCAA Tournament game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Players on the BYU bench react during a first round NCAA Tournament game against Duquesne at the CHI Health Center on Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU forward Noah Waterman (0) and Duquesne forward Fousseyni Drame (34) are separated by an official after a scuffle in the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Omaha, Neb. A double technical was called on the play.

John Peterson, AP Photo

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BYU's Spencer Johnson (2) scores a layup against Duquesne's David Dixon during a first round NCAA Tournament game at the CHI Heath Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU fans react during a first round NCAA Tournament game against Duquesne at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Richie Saunders (15) battles for a loose ball with Duquesne's Fousseyni Drame during an NCAA first round game at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Duquesne forward Fousseyni Drame (34) and BYU forward Noah Waterman (0) go to the floor for a loose ball in the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Omaha, Neb.

Charlie Neibergall. AP Photo

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BYU seniors Spencer Johnson (left) and Jaxson Robinson (center) join coach Mark Pope to answer questions after a first round NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU men's basketball team heads to the locker room after a first round NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Jaxson Robinson (2) races after a loose ball against Duquesne's Dae Dae Grant during a first round NCAA Tournament game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

OMAHA, Neb. — Whether a member of the West Coast Conference or the Big 12, BYU is still an NCAA first-round exit kind of team.

The No. 6 seed Cougars trailed No. 11 Duquesne by double digits in both halves of their NCAA opener, rallying each time to get back into the game. BYU tied the contest at 60-all with 1:45 to play but the Dukes made all the right plays down the stretch, converting 9 of 10 from the foul line in a 71-67 upset Thursday at CHI Health Center.

Welcome to a new stage of post-season grief, Cougar fans: Playing in the best men’s basketball conference in America means bowing out early in March Madness hurts even more. BYU hasn’t won a first-round NCAA tournament game since Jimmer Mania in 2011.

“It’s just a devastating day for us, for sure,” Cougar coach Mark Pope said. “It’s devastating because we lost. It’s devastating because we won’t move on. And mostly it’s devastating because we don’t get to get in the gym together again.”

In what is likely his last game in a BYU uniform, Jaxson Robinson put on a show and scored 25 points on 5 of 11 from the 3-point line to give his team a chance. But after making his fifth 3-pointer to bring the Cougars to within one at 55-54, Robinson never got another shot in the final five minutes.

Fellow senior Spencer Johnson finished with 11 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and three assists. But BYU struggled to find offensive rhythm against the Dukes, making just 8 of 24 (33%) from the 3-point line.

Dae Dae Grant had 19 points, Jakub Necas 12 and Jimmy Clark III 11 for Duquesne, which outshot BYU 49% to 35%. The Atlantic 10 Tournament champions displayed an overwhelming brand of physicality which created extra opportunities and frustrated the Cougar offense all afternoon.

“I will say this: If you watch them (BYU) play with back cuts, slips and all of those, we eliminated them all,” said Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, who is retiring when the season concludes. “The only thing they beat us with was 1-on-1 or the 3-line some. They didn’t get any easy ones. We made them work for everything they got.”

Poor starts doomed BYU in both halves. Duquesne opened the game with a 9-0 spurt and led by as many as 10 points, then outscored the Cougars 8-2 to open up a 14-point lead in the second.

“We got hit first, but we’ve got to hit harder,” Cougar sophomore Richie Saunders said. “We have to be who we are, which is the aggressor, not just the reactor. It just took us too long to get to that point.”

The Dukes physical defense was given free reign in the first half and completely knocked BYU off its game. The Cougars were down 12-2 and didn’t manage a field goal until Robinson’s 3-pointer with 13:35 left in the half. Robinson scored 13 points in the first half and keyed a 13-2 run, his third triple giving BYU a 20-19 lead at the 7:22 mark. Turnovers and missed free throws allowed Duquesne to counter with a 14-1 push to push back to a 33-21 advantage with 2:46 left.

Noah Waterman banked in a 3-pointer that started a 9-0 BYU blitz and a Johnson drive cut the deficit to 33-30 with under one minute to go. Necas nailed a 3-pointer and scored on a fast break and Duquesne led 38-30 at the break.

Fousseyni Traore, who scored 11 points but was just 4 of 12 from the field, dunked on a feed from Saunders to tie the game at 60-all with 1:45 to play. After a pair of Clark free throws, Traore missed a shot in the paint that would have tied the game at the 1:12 mark.

Clark, who struggled from the field most of the game, scored seven straight points over a two-minute stretch to keep the Dukes on top.

Dallin Hall (11 points, six assists) scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 69-67 with 5.7 seconds to play, but Grant swished a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds to go to clinch the upset.

“I felt like we did a good job of battling back and we put ourselves in some good situations,” Johnson said. “Then we hurt ourselves sometimes.”

Duquesne has won nine games in a row and plays No. 3 seed Illinois in Saturday’s second round.

“I thought we did an unbelievable job of taking their punches and punching back,” Dambrot said. “They wobbled us for sure. We were wobbly-legged. We had a cut under our eye, over our eye, but we just kept fighting back.”

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